Tijuana Slough & Fort Rosecrans (San Diego Co.)

Hi, all! Today took out visiting birder Sue Wright and her mom Betty; target birds included Clapper Rail, Snowy Plover, and migrants, so we met at the Tijuana

Message 1 of 1
, Oct 2, 2001

Hi, all!

Today took out visiting birder Sue Wright and her mom Betty; target birds
included Clapper Rail, Snowy Plover, and migrants, so we met at the Tijuana
Slough Visitor's Center around eight (they got caught on the I-15 Parking
Lot, which was worse than usual due to an accident). When I got there
(incredible early, of course) the Clapper Rails were calling even as I got
out of the car, so that was a good sign!

When they finally did make it and we exchanged pleasantries, she informed me
that the pressure was off, as she had gotten a terrific look at Clapper Rail
up in Orange County! So we headed down the trail, enjoying newly arrived
White-crowned Sparrows, battling Anna's Hummers, and a Cattle Egret flying
over, which I don't recall ever seeing there before! The tide was in, and
lots of rails were calling back and forth, some sounding as though they were
at our feet, but invisible, of course! Sue DID happen to see one dart across
across an open area as we were enjoying Short-billed Dowitchers, Marbled
Godwits, Willets, and a single Black-bellied Plover. A Belding's Sparrow
popped up but didn't stay put long enough for Betty to see it through the
scope, but the shorebirds were more cooperative. Down at the end of the
trail we saw three avocets fly in, along with a White-faced Ibis, and while
we were enjoying that, I turned around only to see the Reddish Egret in the
pond behind us! From what I could tell it looked like the one with the
deformed bill that's been hanging around for ages; I was telling Sue that
they've shown up often enough here that the CBRC HAS to be thinking about
taking them off the review list! A big ol' Long-billed Curlew took off just
before we headed back.

From there I decided that we'd have a better chance of spotting the plovers
if we walked the beach down to the Tijuana River mouth, so off we went, and I
tell you, we got our exercise (or at least *I* did)! Didn't see a whole lot
on the way besides Brown Pelicans and a pod of Western Grebes in the surf,
but once down at the mouth several new goodies showed up, including a Black
Turnstone in the kelp, a couple of Heermann's Gulls in with the Westerns,
several Sanderlings, and a flyover Elegant Tern. But lo and behold, Sue DID
spot several of the cute little Snowies on a sandbar, and we all got
excellent looks! On the way back had good comparative looks of Sanderling
and Western Sandpiper, and a Whimbrel gave us a good sillhouette look at his
beak as he sat up on the dunes. A Say's Phoebe was on the observation deck
back in the parking area, and although we saundered down the sidewalk to look
for possible "at your feet" rails (the tide DID seem pretty high), we came up
empty.

Since it was getting late and we had gotten the Snowies, I decided to skip
Robb Field and go straight to Fort Rosecrans for migrants, taking them on the
scenic route up the Silver Strand, through Coronado, and over the Bridge to
Point Loma. The cemetery was dead (no pun intended), probably due to the
time of day, but we at least got Orange-crowned and Butterbutt for the day,
and a possible Wilson's that I couldn't pull out. The landscapers were
mowing and bushwhacking, so that made it hard to hear things, but thankfully
Sue is experienced enough to know that that's how these migrant traps are:
sometimes you hit them right, and sometimes you don't!

We all went our separate ways after that, logging a total of 50 species for
the day. Bird List: